Austin Comstock graduated from Port Huron Northern High School in 2020. There he marched tenors for four seasons of marching band and winter drumline. After graduation, he marched for the Wayne State Marching Band and is a Music Education major at Wayne State University. In 2022 he marched tenors for Lake Effect Percussion and in 2023 he marched tenors for Motor City Percussion.
PATRICK MILLER Bass Drum Instructor
*Patrick Miller is a recent graduate of Dakota High School and marched for Dakota High School for two seasons in both Marching Band and Winter Drumline. This is his first year teaching at Dakota at a Bass Drum Instructor. Patrick is currently attending Western Michigan University.
THOMAS WHARTON Assistant Percussion Director & Percussion Arranger
Thomas Wharton began working with Dakota in November of 2016 as a front ensemble Instructor. Today, Thomas still primarily works with the front ensemble, but is now the Assistant Percussion Director and Percussion Arranger of Dakota. Outside of Dakota, Thomas is the Front Ensemble Co-Caption Head at Redline Percussion, and Front Ensemble Instructor at The Academy Drum and Bugle Corps. Thomas has worked with a number of other programs as well; notably, he was the Percussion Director at Lake Orion in 2022-2023, guiding the ensemble to their first ever State Championship in Open Class in 2023. Thomas has also done work with a handful of other programs, including Apex Percussion, Ferndale HS, Lamphere HS, Plymouth Canton Educational Park, Hastings HS, Southgate Anderson, Cap City Percussion, among others. While not teaching, Thomas is a freelance music arranger for various band programs around the state.
Thomas also has an illustrious past as a performer in the marching arts, including Lake Orion High School, Northcoast Academy (2015-2017), The Cavaliers (2015), Carolina Crown (2016), and Cavaliers Indoor (2018). Thomas is forever grateful to the many wonderful people who have taught him at these organizations.
Thomas holds a BA in Philosophy from Oakland University. While at Oakland, he minored in music and performed with the Percussion Ensemble, Wind Symphony and Oakland Symphony Orchestra.
GRISHOK THAYANITHY Battery Caption Head
*Grishok is the bass tech for the Dakota Winter Drumline. He has been working with the Winter Drumline for the past four seasons and he is excited to be back with the bass line this winter. When instructing, he strives for cultural excellence within his section while cultivating a fun environment. His teaching experience includes three seasons teaching the flub line and five seasons with the bass line. In addition to his music instruction, he is currently studying accounting at Oakland University.
His marching experience started when he was a student at Dakota High School where he was a part of the Marching Band for four years, and with the Winter Drumline for three years. During high school, he played the alto saxophone, baritone, cymbals, and bass drum. Following high school, Grishok went on to march bass with multiple other groups including world class ensembles "Redline Percussion" and the "Blue Knights Drum and Bugle Corps".
SARAH MARTEL Snare Drum Instructor
*Sarah Martel has been teaching snare drum at Dakota since 2019. Sarah is a 2018 graduate of Dakota High School where she participated in eight seasons of marching between the Marching Band and the Winter Drumline in addition to being a member of the Concert Band. She has experience on multiple instruments including the snare drum, bass drum, clarinet, and bass clarinet. After high school, Sarah went on to march independent open class on snare drum at Motor City Percussion in 2019 and Apex Percussion as center snare in 2020. She is very excited to continue teaching and mentoring her students to be the best they can be. Sarah is a recent Walsh College graduate working as a database developer. Outside of drumming, she loves to paint and listen to music.
LAUREN STRAGER Snare Drum Instructor
Lauren is a Snare Drum instructor from West Bloomfield, Michigan. Her marching experience began at West Bloomfield High School, where she gained experience on multiple instruments including Mellophone, Bass Drum, and Snare Drum over the course of 10 seasons between Marching Band and Winter Drumline. She was also a member of the Concert Band, where she played the French Horn for all four years. Lauren then went on to play Snare Drum with the Jersey Surf World Class Drum and Bugle Corps in 2018, Redline Percussion in 2019 and 2020, and the Crossmen Drum and Bugle Corps in 2020. She was also an instructor at Southgate Anderson High School in 2019, and continues to be a guest instructor at ensembles across the state of Michigan. When instructing, Lauren strives to create an approachable and detail-oriented learning environment while enabling an upbeat atmosphere.
Lauren holds a Bachelor's Degree and a Master's Degree from Michigan State University and works in energy policy. When not drumming, Lauren enjoys hiking, baking, and longboarding.
